Ericsson sues Apple for patent infringement, demands blockage of Apple products in the U.S.

Ericsson yet stands hoisting its patent flag and has carried the battle against Apple to a cut-throat level. The company has now filed a case against Apple alleging that the Cupertino giant has violated around 41 of its patents in some manner.

Ericsson had conceived some of the fundamental technologies at a time when mobile phones were still extremely bulky and people didn’t even know what a smartphone was. Apple and others use these technologies in their devices to make wireless, operating system and basic interface work along with establishing a connection with each other.

Since, Ericsson stands as the parent for all these technologies, it demands relevant loyalties from the companies that fabricate these technologies to their devices and also offers a license to them. Apple’s license with Ericsson expedited this January and when Ericsson approached to Apple for a renewal procedure, the Cupertino giant unhesitatingly turned it down.

Kasim Alfalahi, Ericsson’s chief intellectual property officer said-

We have offered them a license; they have a turned it down. We’re not a company that’s planning to extract more than the value we put on the table.

In a countermove, Apple says that it finds paying royalties to Ericsson for such fundamental technologies unfair and irrelevant. Ericsson also offered to have an arbitrator determine the proper rates, but that too bit the dust. Apple termed Ericsson royalties collection model as an abusive licensing practice and has declined to comply.

In fact, Apple had even filed a lawsuit against Ericsson in January this year, for demand of excessive royalties by the latter. In return, Ericsson thus filed this lawsuit at the International Trade Commission in Washington and has requested to block Apple products in the territory of US.

Apple has also contended that companies whose patents cover fundamental technology are demanding too much money and has lobbied the courts, regulators and even a board that develops standards for Wi-Fi to have its position adopted widely.

Moreover, times have been turbulent for the Cupertino giant in the recent past. SmartFlash recently sued Apple and won the case at a Texas District court, wherin Apple has been directed to pay as much as $533 Million for infringing upon patents held by Smartflash. The patents in question were related to Apple’s famed iTunes software.

On the other hand, Ericsson has been suing brands in India too. It recently sued Xiaomi, where the Delhi High Court almost immediately granted an ex-parte injunction to ban Xiaomi in India. That decision was however partially removed later.